Jack Reacher: T-Man of The Bookstore!

Off Topic
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Up until recently, Hunter was my favorite. The latest trilogy of Bobby Lee Swagger novels, however, didn’t really do it for me. (I’m refering to The 47th Samurai, Night of Thunder and I, Sniper here.) I, Sniper was better than the other two, but I don’t feel that most recent grouping has lived up to the first three.

The thing I like about the Reacher novels is that they are consistent. Lee Child has rarely had a mistep, and even when he has (Persuader and Nothing to Lose come to mind) they haven’t been bad…just different.

I’m actually looking most forward to Vince Flynn’s new one, American Assassin, as it goes into Mitch Rapp’s past, and development as an operator. Flynn’s last two were decent, but not his best work. I hope this one recovers some of the momentum that he seems to have lost.

As for who could play Reacher in a movie…this may sound odd, but I’ve always pictured Reacher’s face as looking like Liev Schreiber’s. I don’t know that Schreiber is big enough to play him, but that’s the most similar look that occurs to me.

My vote for the biggest MISCASTING though would be Willem Defoe as Mr. Clark in Clear and Present Danger. He’s not even close to what I thought that character looked like. I would have picked Ed Harris. But hey, that’s just me.

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I’ve never heard of this Reacher series, sounds campy but good. Off to the library cause I’m to cheap to buy books.

Read the J.Rain and Hunter stuff and really enjoyed them. Anything to do with snipers I’m hooked.

I agree about the Andy McNabb novels, started out well but the last two were meh.

My favorite series are: Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series, Seal Team Seven by Kieth Douglas, Matthew Reilly and the Scarcrow series.

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I had actually read online a few months ago that Tom Cruise’s production company was trying to buy rights to one of the Reacher novels, not sure which one?? If Tom Cruise (or anyone less than AT LEAST 6’0, 220 lbs minimum) was to play Reacher, I would burst into tears. My vote still stands with Ray Stevenson, Liev Schreiber would also be a decent pick.

Who would be a good pick for Earl Swagger if he were portrayed in a movie adaptation? One of my close friends said Brad Pitt would be good and I tend to agree. Thoughts?

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Brad Pitt should play everyone and their mother. Literally, like Eddie Murphy sans-fat suit and shirt.

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[quote]DJHT wrote:
Just downloaded the Killing Floor for my Nook thanks Nards, always looking for quick easy fun reads. [/quote]

Okay finshed it last night, not bad. I think I will order a few more of these Thanks again Nards.

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No problem, I’m glad you enjoyed them.

They’re good fun because you know what you’re in for. I used to read Clive Cussler stuff for good action and adventure, but then he felt the need to have the main character’s son and daughter that he never knew he had show up and share in their dad’s adventures.

Lee Child has said, I believe, that he’ll keep writing one Reacher book a year for the foreseeable future. I actually think he did two this year, “61 Hours” and next month’s “Worth Dying For”. I love it…just have Reacher keep wandering around the States getting into trouble and sorting it out and I’ll read them all.

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[quote]Nards wrote:
No problem, I’m glad you enjoyed them.

They’re good fun because you know what you’re in for. I used to read Clive Cussler stuff for good action and adventure, but then he felt the need to have the main character’s son and daughter that he never knew he had show up and share in their dad’s adventures.

Lee Child has said, I believe, that he’ll keep writing one Reacher book a year for the foreseeable future. I actually think he did two this year, “61 Hours” and next month’s “Worth Dying For”. I love it…just have Reacher keep wandering around the States getting into trouble and sorting it out and I’ll read them all.[/quote]

Yea I was going to PM you to ask if I should start at the first one of the series, then decided I prefer to do that anyway. I read fast so I like series books.

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You could pretty much read any one you wanted next.

There’s one that doesn’t exactly fit: “The Enemy” only because it’s set during Reacher’s army days.

Also the newest one, “61 Hours”…ends in a bit of a cliff-hanger which I’m guessing is concluded in the new book next month “Worth Dying For”

Here’s what you might call trivia: The author is from England.
A little strange what with Reacher being such a rugged individualist type. You’d expect him to have a butler and drink tea if an Englishman wrote them!

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[quote]Nards wrote:
You could pretty much read any one you wanted next.

There’s one that doesn’t exactly fit: “The Enemy” only because it’s set during Reacher’s army days.

Also the newest one, “61 Hours”…ends in a bit of a cliff-hanger which I’m guessing is concluded in the new book next month “Worth Dying For”

Here’s what you might call trivia: The author is from England.
A little strange what with Reacher being such a rugged individualist type. You’d expect him to have a butler and drink tea if an Englishman wrote them![/quote]

If this guy is cranking out a book a year, I would figure at some point that he will start doing prequels. Going back to the time when he was an army cop etc.

50

[quote]anonym wrote:
Outside of the time he got so swole digging pools that his pecs stopped a bullet (Tripwire), I like those books just fine (except for Nothing to Lose, which got a little too preachy for my pallet).[/quote]

Agreed. I love the books, great character, great writing style but the plots are over the top and the author’s ignorance shines through in too many place. He has gotten a bit too preachy but I will still read them.

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[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

[quote]DJHT wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
Anybody know of a good series where the title character is both bad ass and willing to have a conversation. I have been reading too many books lately full of tough guy ‘piss-off’ one-liners. The Reacher books were he works with someone else to solve the capers are close. Perhaps I like a bit of intellectual/conversation skills in my main characters.

Any suggestions?[/quote]

Prey series arent bad. Davenport tends to have a little brains to him.[/quote]

Thanks. I think I have listened to one of Sanford’b books on CD. I will give them a read.[/quote]

There are a bunch, start at the beginning and enjoy. Good series, more believable than Reacher.

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[quote]Big Banana wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

[quote]DJHT wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
Anybody know of a good series where the title character is both bad ass and willing to have a conversation. I have been reading too many books lately full of tough guy ‘piss-off’ one-liners. The Reacher books were he works with someone else to solve the capers are close. Perhaps I like a bit of intellectual/conversation skills in my main characters.

Any suggestions?[/quote]

Prey series arent bad. Davenport tends to have a little brains to him.[/quote]

Thanks. I think I have listened to one of Sanford’b books on CD. I will give them a read.[/quote]

There are a bunch, start at the beginning and enjoy. Good series, more believable than Reacher.[/quote]

Who wants “believable?” I don’t. There are times in my life that I do not believe what is going on, why would I want a fiction book to be believable. I want to stretch my imagination when reading, not something that reads as an ordinary day in my life.

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[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

[quote]Big Banana wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

[quote]DJHT wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
Anybody know of a good series where the title character is both bad ass and willing to have a conversation. I have been reading too many books lately full of tough guy ‘piss-off’ one-liners. The Reacher books were he works with someone else to solve the capers are close. Perhaps I like a bit of intellectual/conversation skills in my main characters.

Any suggestions?[/quote]

Prey series arent bad. Davenport tends to have a little brains to him.[/quote]

Thanks. I think I have listened to one of Sanford’b books on CD. I will give them a read.[/quote]

There are a bunch, start at the beginning and enjoy. Good series, more believable than Reacher.[/quote]

Who wants “believable?” I don’t. There are times in my life that I do not believe what is going on, why would I want a fiction book to be believable. I want to stretch my imagination when reading, not something that reads as an ordinary day in my life.[/quote]

I think you misunderstand what is meant by ‘believable’.

No one wants to read about Jack Reacher waking up, brushing his teeth, sitting in a coffee shop reading the paper all day and then going home to masturbate in his motel room. Then again, no one wants to read about an alien breaking through his ribcage while he is in the middle of the sports section, either.

There is a spectrum, and Reacher novels have a tendency to stray too far into Sigourney’s territory every now and then.

Have you actually read all of the books? I wasn’t making shit up when I mentioned that Child wrote about Reacher getting so jacked from digging pools that his pecs stopped a bullet.

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Child makes mistakes in his writing. Two books ago he made a mistake about guns. It was something that a little research would fix. But I still enjoy the books.

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[quote]anonym wrote:

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

[quote]Big Banana wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

[quote]DJHT wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
Anybody know of a good series where the title character is both bad ass and willing to have a conversation. I have been reading too many books lately full of tough guy ‘piss-off’ one-liners. The Reacher books were he works with someone else to solve the capers are close. Perhaps I like a bit of intellectual/conversation skills in my main characters.

Any suggestions?[/quote]

Prey series arent bad. Davenport tends to have a little brains to him.[/quote]

Thanks. I think I have listened to one of Sanford’b books on CD. I will give them a read.[/quote]

There are a bunch, start at the beginning and enjoy. Good series, more believable than Reacher.[/quote]

Who wants “believable?” I don’t. There are times in my life that I do not believe what is going on, why would I want a fiction book to be believable. I want to stretch my imagination when reading, not something that reads as an ordinary day in my life.[/quote]

I think you misunderstand what is meant by ‘believable’.

No one wants to read about Jack Reacher waking up, brushing his teeth, sitting in a coffee shop reading the paper all day and then going home to masturbate in his motel room. Then again, no one wants to read about an alien breaking through his ribcage while he is in the middle of the sports section, either.

There is a spectrum, and Reacher novels have a tendency to stray too far into Sigourney’s territory every now and then.

Have you actually read all of the books? I wasn’t making shit up when I mentioned that Child wrote about Reacher getting so jacked from digging pools that his pecs stopped a bullet.[/quote]

Well even though digging pools would help the back more than the chest, I would have to say that some people’s chests have stopped bullets, there was a bodybuilder who’s wife (also a bodybuilder) shot him in the chest and they dug the bullet out of his pectorals.

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[quote]anonym wrote:

No one wants to read about Jack Reacher waking up, brushing his teeth, sitting in a coffee shop reading the paper all day and then going home to masturbate in his motel room. Then again, no one wants to read about an alien breaking through his ribcage while he is in the middle of the sports section, either.

[/quote]

Holy shit that was funny!

57

I think one of the funniest things about the Reacher character is his ability to always know what time it is. To the minute. I have no idea why Lee Child thought that was a good trait to write into the character. It seems so odd and out of place.

As for his inaccuracies regarding Army life…geez. As a former MP, let’s just say I’m always amused by the public’s total misperception of what MP’s do, especially at the officer ranks.

BUT…I still really like the writing, and he is an entertaining character.

Somebody asked earlier who could play Earl Swagger in a movie adaptation. I really can’t come up with anyone. I honestly can’t think of one, single actor who would meet my vision of who Earl is. That’s a tough one.

58

[quote]mapwhap wrote:
I think one of the funniest things about the Reacher character is his ability to always know what time it is. To the minute. I have no idea why Lee Child thought that was a good trait to write into the character. It seems so odd and out of place.

As for his inaccuracies regarding Army life…geez. As a former MP, let’s just say I’m always amused by the public’s total misperception of what MP’s do, especially at the officer ranks.

BUT…I still really like the writing, and he is an entertaining character.

Somebody asked earlier who could play Earl Swagger in a movie adaptation. I really can’t come up with anyone. I honestly can’t think of one, single actor who would meet my vision of who Earl is. That’s a tough one. [/quote]

Sam Elliot would be my pick if they made the movie in the early 90s when Point Of Impact was released. Possibly Tom Selleck also. You need a tall, rangy type of guy IMO.

Elliot was a few cowboys, in Roadhouse and Ghost Rider and Selleck did Quigley. Would work for me.

59

[quote]mapwhap wrote:
I think one of the funniest things about the Reacher character is his ability to always know what time it is. To the minute. I have no idea why Lee Child thought that was a good trait to write into the character. It seems so odd and out of place.

As for his inaccuracies regarding Army life…geez. As a former MP, let’s just say I’m always amused by the public’s total misperception of what MP’s do, especially at the officer ranks.

BUT…I still really like the writing, and he is an entertaining character.

Somebody asked earlier who could play Earl Swagger in a movie adaptation. I really can’t come up with anyone. I honestly can’t think of one, single actor who would meet my vision of who Earl is. That’s a tough one. [/quote]

Explain…

60

[quote]tom63 wrote:

[quote]mapwhap wrote:
I think one of the funniest things about the Reacher character is his ability to always know what time it is. To the minute. I have no idea why Lee Child thought that was a good trait to write into the character. It seems so odd and out of place.

As for his inaccuracies regarding Army life…geez. As a former MP, let’s just say I’m always amused by the public’s total misperception of what MP’s do, especially at the officer ranks.

BUT…I still really like the writing, and he is an entertaining character.

Somebody asked earlier who could play Earl Swagger in a movie adaptation. I really can’t come up with anyone. I honestly can’t think of one, single actor who would meet my vision of who Earl is. That’s a tough one. [/quote]

Sam Elliot would be my pick if they made the movie in the early 90s when Point Of Impact was released. Possibly Tom Selleck also. You need a tall, rangy type of guy IMO.

Elliot was a few cowboys, in Roadhouse and Ghost Rider and Selleck did Quigley. Would work for me.[/quote]

Sam Elliot would be awesome. He exudes competence and cool.